Animation Tips & Tricks, Volume I - Animation Mentor

incredibly easy to get so caught up in the "rights" and "wrongs" of animation, that you forget what your true job is....Your job is to be the tool of the director. That's it. That's your whole job.Let's say you're a construction worker, and the foreman needs some rivets pounded into something with a hammer. Your tool is thehammer, right? Well, the foreman's tool for getting those rivets pounded is... ...Can you guess? It's YOU. You're his tool. Get it?Now, let's say you're me. My "tools of the trade" are primarily Maya and the mountain of proprietary software that ILM's codingninjas regularly crank out for us. So, for the sake of discussion, let's say Maya is my tool. When I look at Maya, I don't think, "ok, dowhatever you want, Mr. Fancy Computer Program." No, I say, "you're my tool, and you're damn well going to do what I tell you todo!"With one major exception, that's pretty much the exact relationship you will enjoy with your first few directors on your first fewprojects.Ouch, right? You're like a soulless computer program? What?!Okay, it isn't as bad as it sounds. The one major exception I mentioned is that the lead on your project, or the director of your film,is also going to be relying on your artistic sensibilities as well as your expertise in movement and performance. In theory, that'sthe whole reason they've come to you in the first place, and usually that's their mindset. So, that person will be relying on you tobring something to the table, much more than I rely on Maya to bring anything remotely artistic to the table. (repeat after me: yourcomputer is the world's worst inbetweener! FORCE it to look right!)Anyway, let me get to my point. Right now I'm working on a big action-packed movie, which is being directed by one of the mostsuccessful directors around. For this story, let's call him BigTime Director. My animation tool is the computer, right? So.... what'sBigTime Director's animation tool?Me.Well, me and 18 other people, but you get the idea. The entire animation team is his animation tool. And together we'll do our bestto put his vision up on that screen.As with any good director, he has specific ideas of how he wants these creatures to move, and my sole job at ILM is to make surethat they do EXACTLY what he wants. It's up to the animators to bring that vision to life as best we can. Sure, we get to offer a lotof suggestions, and bring a lot of ideas to the table, but at the end of the day if it doesn't make BigTime Director happy, then it'swrong.No matter how cool it is, no matter how fun it is, no matter how "right" it is, it's wrong. All the timing might be perfect, the posingdynamic, and mechanics absolutely solid, but it's still wrong.It sounds so simple, but it's really not. By the time you're working on a professional project, you probably have years of experiencestudying animation. If you're one of our students, the fundamental principles have been drilled into your head until you know themlike the back of your hand. The basic concept of overlap is as intrinsic to every shot you animate as holding your breath when yougo swimming.It's instinctual.Essential.You get a new shot that you're really excited about, and you block it in. Of course, since you've done your planning well (see the firstfew months of this article) you know exactly when and where your overlapping actions will be, so you block those in as well. Theshot looks great! Hooray! You rush to your project lead and sit her down and show them your impeccable animation blocking.That person looks at your blocking and says, "This is great, but I don't want any overlap."49Copyright 2008 by AnimationMentor.com. All rights reserved. This ebook may not be reprinted or distributed in electronic, print, web, or other format withoutexpress written permission.